My first year of teaching is rapidly coming to a close, and it is making me feel excited, sad, stressed, and exhausted. My students are preparing (or not preparing) to take the New York State Living Environment Regents Exam in just over a month, and some of them, bless their hearts, are cracking open a book for the first time just this week.

I wonder what they would do if I just spent an entire period silently eating banana bread and staring at them.

We may never know, because sadly, this banana bread was not for me. I sent it to my wonderful, amazing mother for Mother's Day, along with a bottle of truly dangerous looking hot sauce. The two gifts are in no way related.

UNLESS....

....nope.

I refuse to eat bananas that are covered in brown spots. I know that they are riper and sweeter that way, but they just look so unappetizing. I believe that speckled bananas were put on this earth to serve a higher purpose: banana bread.

So you see, you can buy perfectly yellow bananas with every intention of consuming them as a healthy, light snack. OR, you can buy perfectly yellow bananas and "forget" about them until you have literally no choice but to turn them into a loaf of delicious and indulgent (but still low-fat!) banana bread.

With ingredients like whole-wheat flour, egg whites, and fat-free greek yogurt, you really shouldn't feel guilty at all. The walnuts on top add a little kick of protein and crunch, so I strongly recommend adding them, but eliminating them would be an easy way to decrease the guilt-factor even more!

Make this bread. Give it to your Mom. Watch your little sister loudly protest that she cannot POSSIBLY eat a second piece, as she surreptitiously picks all the walnuts off of everyone else's pieces and eats them.

To all the mothers I know, you are all superheroes and I don't know how you do all that you do. But especially mine. Happy Mother's Day!